Virtix Inc. has announced the release of Virtix Zoom for iMovie. It’s a collection of ten special effects that enable iMovie users to magnify and highlight portions of clips.
Parts of video clips can be enlarged, and cropped out. You can also add slow-moving zoom-ins and zoom-outs to any shot, or super-fast “snap” zooms.
Virtix explained the zooming algorithms used by the effects all operate at 60 fields per second, thus guaranteeing smooth motion. The High Quality mode integrates motion blur effects as well, producing the “least digital” look possible.
Included with the package are: Normal Zoom-In & Zoom-Out, High Quality Zoom-In & Zoom-Out, Snap Zoom-In & Zoom-Out, Fixed Zoom, and quick In-Out Zoom.
Each zoom effect allows you to pick an area on the image and a zoom factor of 1 to 10, providing the ability to pan as it zooms in. A numeric interface enables zooms on split clips to be matched seamlessly.
Two complementary effects are also provided: Spotlight and Witness Protection. The Spotlight effect darkens the screen and leaves a bright circle over an area to draw the viewer’s attention; Witness Protection blurs out all the pixels in a circle to obscure their identity. The three styles of effects are being bundled because they’re often used in documentaries and “reality TV,” according to Virtix.
Virtix Zoom for iMovie is available for download from the Virtix Web site. It costs US$19.99. It’ll work with iMovie 2.0.1 or higher for Mac OS 9 and OS X.